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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

On Saturday, we got a crew gathered for Slow Food BU and zipped down to the Cape to go to a Cranberry festival and check out some bogs!

Did you know that the cranberry is one of three fruits that are native to North America? Along with the blueberry and concord grape, cranberries were first used Native Americans, as food, dye and for its healing properities. New England is a major site of cranberry production and some of the plants the grow today have been around for more that 150 years!

Jake and Dot have owned this farm since the 60s. It is not organic, but Jack says he limits the amounts of pesticide they spray because 1) its ridiculously expensive and 2) he has grandchildren running around the farm all the time.

Flax Pond is a dry bog-which means they never flood it to harvest. Berries from dry bogs are what you'll find fresh or frozen, where the berries remain intact. Wet bogging can squash the little berries so they turn into processed sauces, juice or dried snacks.

Jack with the berry picker!

Ocean spray sells the berries for them-dividing up profits amoungst their co-op of growers